The construction on Cecil College’s North East campus continues as construction teams work on the new 16,000-square-foot Facilities Center and a new campus entrance.

According to the Director of Facilities, Jason Ludd, the new building is one of two major parts of the project and will serve as the center for all facility work on the North East campus. The goal is to streamline all on-campus maintenance and custodial work that will operate out of the new facility.

The new Facilities building will adhere to Maryland state regulations, meaning it must meet LEED silver standards, as well as reaching certain environmental benchmarks.

Established by the US Green Building Council, the LEED silver standards act as an Eco-conscious checklist that new state-funded construction sites must reach. To obtain silver standards, construction must meet at least 50% of possible points that appear on the checklist. These standards ensure water usage reduction, pollution prevention, and comfortable internal temperatures.

Along with LEED guidelines, the building will follow the Maryland Green Schools initiative, known as the MDGS program. Established in 2019, it requires school campuses in Maryland to meet ecological standards, mainly some level of plant life on campus.

According to Director Ludd, the new Facilities building is reserved strictly for maintenance personnel. The important part of the construction for Cecil College students, however, is the new Mary Maloney Boulevard. The main goal for the Boulevard, as reported by Director Ludd, is to provide better access to both the upper parking lot, the athletic building, and the athletic fields. The Boulevard is named after Mary Maloney, who became the first female county commissioner for Maryland in the 1970s, and the first exemplary trustee for Cecil College.

Student feedback on the construction has largely been positive. For students who have classes in the athletic building, the new approach is a welcomed convenience. According to one student, Julia Moul, who has British literature and Journalism in the Building, states, “an extra entrance will make it easier to get to class without having to take the stairs.” Outside of the college, Moul works as part of a maintenance team for schools in Pennsylvania and as per her experience, she believes that the new building, “will help by having everything in one place.”

As for the maintenance team at Cecil College itself, the project is also well received. One team member, Zach, claims, “having all my resources streamlined is really going to help.”

Overall, the new Facilities building should help both the student body and the maintenance team. The resources will be streamlined, the communication will be improved, and the process of maintenance across campus will overall be enhanced. The Mary Maloney Boulevard will be a welcome addition to the campus, reducing entrance traffic, without the tampering of any pre-existing nature trails or green campus elements.